Only in a children's book would a discarded ice cream cone become a magic hat, but that's exactly what happens in Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat. Only, as us adult have all probably worked out, wearing an ice cream cone on your head doesn't actually give you magical powers at all. There are other forces at play here and that's exactly what the delightful illustrations show you. Little Miss C is always thrilled to point out the army of ants that are carrying away the chocolate flake, rather than it moving by magic as the cats in the story think it does. I really like this extra level of ... read more
The Yoga Ogre – Peter Bentley & Simon Rickerty
I always find it funny how at just two years of age Little Miss C very much knows her own mind about things. When I first flicked through the review copy of The Yoga Ogre that I was sent I wasn't too sure about it at all and wasn't convinced that it would appeal to LMC. How wrong I was! We'd picked up the parcel containing it from the sorting office and for the car journey home she was engrossed in it (and the second book in the parcel) and was shouting out all the things that she was spotting in the pictures. Now she regularly asks for it as one of her bedtime books. The story is ... read more
Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids – Jenny Doh
Some days things just work out right. Little Miss C goes down for her nap without any problems and just as you're about to sit down with your feet up and a cuppa the postman appears with some perfectly timed reading material. That's exactly what happened when my review copy of Hand in Hand arrived. I'd been eying this up on amazon for a while and it was already on my wish list, so being asked to review it was an added bonus. As soon as I opened the book I just knew I was going to love it. The simple reason being that the first section is written by Amanda Blake Soule whose SouleMama blog ... read more
In A Dry Season – Peter Robinson
The day that I started reading In A Dry Season coincided with my train journey to Yeo Valley. Nothing remarkable there as train journies are an obvious time to read, but what was strange was the conversation in the taxi from Bristol Temple Meads station to Blagdon. One of my fellow bloggers started talking about the two lakes close to Yeo Valley and saying that she had heard that one of them had a submerged village underneath it and that sometimes people could still hear the church bells ringing from underwater. Now, knowing a bit of physics I thought it unlikely that this could ... read more
E is for Evidence – Sue Grafton
When I said that I need to read something a bit lighthearted next I certainly wasn't kidding. I'm a huge crime fiction fan and love everything from classics like Wilkie Collins and Agatha Christie right through to some of the slightly more "trashy" US crime fiction. I love a good mystery and find that the distraction of trying to figure out who killed who in a crime novel a great way of switching off from day to day worries once I'm in bed. Sue Grafton's E Is For Evidence is part of the Kinsey Millhone "alphabet series" which I have dipped into ... read more
Little Men – Louise M Alcott
It's rare that I look forward to a book as much as I did Little Men. It's also the case that I'm rarely as disappointed and frustrated with a book as I was with LIttle Men. After reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Little Women and Good Wives I went to quite a bit of effort to track down copies of LIttle Men Jo's Boys and I'm not yet sure it was worth the effort. Little Men is set at Plumfield, the school and home for boys that Jo has set up with her new husband, and follows many of the boys (and a couple of girls) that are in their care through ... read more
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
It seems that Little Miss C is very much following in my footsteps and becoming a complete book addict. The last things she asks for at night is books and first thing in a morning she wants "stories" before anything else. Trying to keep up with her is proving somewhat challenging and I have to admit that some books really test your patience when you have to read them over and over again. One of our last trips to the library resulted in fines that were so large that it would have been chaper to buy the books new! I was delighted therefore when the postman delivered a copy of The ... read more
Lily of Love Lane – Carol Rivers
I'm not sure what's made me so obsessed with period based books at the moment, but I keep finding myself being drawn to them. I even managed to pick up (and pay for I hasten to add!) a copy of Lily of Love Lane whilst I was out shopping for onions one afternoon! It is quite simply another good East End saga set between the wars. There's hardship, friendship and romance and a few twists and turns, all written about in a very warm, friendly manner. Carol Rivers' books are probably best described as "historical chic-lit" but there's something nice and ... read more
Lizzie of Langley Street – Carol Rivers
This is so totally not the kind of book that I usually pick up in bookshops or even charity shops. I normally pass over the section entitled "romantic fiction" or similar and imagine it to be full of Mills and Boon style books which are just not my cup of tea at all. My mum passed on this book and a couple of others recently having picked them up from a hospital book stall. I thought I'd give them a go and I'm so glad I did. Lizzie of Langley Street is in a way a typical gritty East-End saga set after the first world war. There's a strong lead female character - daughter ... read more
The House at Riverton – Kate Morton
It's been a while since I blogged about the books I've been reading so there's a bit of catching up to do. My most recent read has been The House at Riverton by Kate Morton and I have to say that it's been a long time since I enjoyed a novel this much! Grace Bradley arrived at Riverton in 1914 as a 14 year old ready to take on her first role as a house-maid. What she didn't expect at the time was how much Riverton would become part of her life and also change it in a way that she could not forget. The book flips between Grace's time at Riverton and ... read more